ISE Fira de Barcelona South Access Screen

Integrated Systems Europe – ISE – was instrumental in persuading Fira de Barcelona to invest in a new transparent LED display in the façade of its Gran Via venue, to be installed ready for ISE 2024.

The screen is the largest transparent LED display installed at any exhibition venue in Europe. But because it’s 80% transparent, it’s hardly noticeable from inside the venue. And it’s powered by 100% renewable energy.

We wanted the screen to be a dynamic information display, before, during and after the show. It had to replace printed branding outside with flexible options for sponsors. We also wanted to engage and entertain audiences with real-time interaction. And finally, the screen should be a canvas for some highly immersive content promoting our keynote programme.

Interactive presentation specialist Realtime Department worked with us, offering many valuable ideas while creating all the content. This was scheduled using Realtime’s UNIQVUE Experience Framework, switching between show information and sponsors’ videos.

The large amounts of visual data, as well as interactive content, required a robust hardware platform. We worked with real-time graphics specialist Ventuz, who integrated a Runtime dual media server cluster; adding a Ventuz Multi-GPU cluster meant fewer servers were needed.

Visitors scanned a QR code to interact with the giant screen. During the daytime, they posted emojis and photos, and entered a prize draw. After dark, the content changed to a real-time starscape – visitors launched shooting stars across the screen.

We also commissioned a special work from digital artist and ISE 2024 keynote speaker Jeroen van der Most. He gave two mid-blowing live performances of Bee Barcelona, created with AI.

The main challenge in the project was the timescale. ISE and its partners were given full access to the screen on the seventeenth of January – just thirteen days before the show opened.

We also faced challenges around internet connectivity and playing sound in sync with the visuals, which the Fira’s AV and IT teams helped us to solve.

Everyone was delighted with the result. The display raised the bar for the visitor welcome experience at a technology show, using solutions that are part of the show itself. It was an integrated system that was a more than fitting showcase for Integrated Systems Europe.

As ISE is the world’s largest tradeshow for the professional audiovisual and systems integration industry, screens like this are one of our core technologies. But as well as being a great showcase for technology, this project was also an amazing opportunity to show how AV systems integration is about working together – combining multiple solutions to create amazing experiences.

The screen can be used by other shows at the Fira, as well as the city of Barcelona, for public messaging. As for ourselves, we’re already thinking about how we can top the experience for ISE 2025!